In case my post from Thursday interested you in examining the more entertaining regulatory decisions, I have another set of three dissenting opinions (in a single order) to share with you for your reading pleasure.
In one of the final Orders of the year 2006, the CRTC authorized Northwestel to withdraw local service from a small town on Baffin Island, presumably because it was too costly. This despite the fact that the costs were underwritten by the contribution subsidy payments.
I am sorry I missed this story when it was fresh last December.
From this day onward, the concept of basic service as a given in Canada and the notion that established phone companies have an obligation to provide such service to Canadians may be gone forever. My reading of the message underlying the majority decision is that access to phone service is only a given if companies are confident it can be provided profitably. In my view, that is not good enough.
A regulatory colleague tipped me to this CRTC Order, in which Stuart Langford’s dissent can be summarized as:
The nearest hospital is 1200 km away and it’s dark all the time up there this time of year. Still, the majority figures there’s no obligation to serve. No wonder Canadians shake their heads over the value of regulation.